EP1613980A1

EP1613980A1 - Method for detecting wind speeds using a doppler-lidar system, especially on aeroplanes, and doppler-lidar system

Info

Publication number: EP1613980A1
Application number: EP04725596A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Thorsteinn Halldorsson; Michael Hofmann; Gerald Sobotta
Original assignee: EADS Deutschland GmbH
Current assignee: Airbus Defence and Space GmbH
Priority date: 2003-04-10
Filing date: 2004-04-03
Publication date: 2006-01-11
Anticipated expiration: 2024-04-03
Also published as: ES2298741T3; EP1613980B1; WO2004092767A1; US7463341B2; US20070171397A1; DE10316762B4; ATE384962T1; DE10316762A1; DE502004006046D1

Abstract

In the case of a method of detecting wind velocities by means of a Doppler-lidar system (10), a laser beam of a defined frequency generated by means of a laser (11) is emitted by a transmitting device (12) toward a space area and the light backscattered from the space area is received by means of a receiving telescope (13). For determining a Doppler shift, an interferogram is generated by means of an interferometer (16), the intensity distribution of the interferogram being directly measured by means of a photodetector (17). The measured intensity distribution is compared with one or more reference patterns which had previously been determined for defined parameters and are filed in a memory device (18a). From the comparison, the Doppler shift is determined as a measurement for the wind velocity. The Doppler-lidar system (10) comprises an analyzing unit (18a, 18b) for implementing the method, having a comparison unit (18b) for the comparison of reference patterns with the measured interferogram.

Description

Method for recording wind speeds with a Doppler lidar system, in particular on board aircraft, and Doppler lidar system

The present invention relates to a method for detecting wind speeds with a Doppler lidar system according to the preamble of claim 1 and a Doppler lidar system for detecting wind speeds, in particular on board aircraft, according to the preamble of claim 13.

The detection of wind speeds and turbulence in the atmosphere is of particular importance for air traffic. For example, Inflicting gusts on an aircraft, which lead to high dynamic loads on the aircraft structure. In many cases there are even critical flight conditions due to particularly strong air turbulence in the atmosphere, which has even resulted in accidents in some extreme situations in the past. In addition, shear winds and air turbulence have a negative impact on flight comfort and lead to increased fuel consumption.

For this reason, aeronautical engineering tries to measure shear winds and air turbulence and then to compensate for them with appropriate rudder deflections, ie to actively correct them. However, a direct measurement of the air movement on the fuselage or on the wings with mechanical probes, such as, for example, acceleration sensors or pressure sensors, is not suitable, since there is no sufficient time to actuate the wing actuators. It is therefore necessary to measure the air movement in advance with sensors in front of the aircraft on its flight path, i.e. a few fractions of a second before it is flown through. For active control of turbulence and shear winds, for example in the case of commercial aircraft, a minimum distance of approximately 50-200 m is required in front of the aircraft. In addition, a resolution of the speed of the air particles is of the order of 1 m / sec. and their location in front of the aircraft with a resolution in the area of the wing extension of about 5 - 10 m depth necessary. Weather radar, laser anemometer and lidar are examples of such remote measurement methods.

The problem with weather radar systems is that they have large, high-density suspended particles, such as, for their backscatter measurement

Drops of water in clouds, and therefore only for early warning of

Weather clouds at a greater distance up to a few 10 kilometers are suitable.

The most common air disturbances with clear visibility, such as shear winds and so-called "clear air turbulances" in the troposphere and jet streams in the stratosphere, on the other hand, cannot be detected by the weather radar, since the

Wavelength of a few centimeters (X-band) compared to the size of the

Air particles is relatively long.

Therefore, attempts have been made to use laser Doppler anemometers, which are used in fluid mechanics to diagnose air flows. However, you need a sharp focus of the laser measuring beam in order to generate sufficiently strong backscatter signals from individual aerosols and can therefore only be used for measurements in the close range up to a few meters away. Such a system and method is e.g. in the publication DE 40 13 702 C and in S. Damp, "Battery-driven Miniature LDA-

System with Semiconductor Laser Diode ", in Application of Laser Anemometry to Fluid Mechanics, 4th International Symposium, Lisbon, Portugal, 1989.

In order to measure movements of the smallest air particles of an extended volume at a greater distance, attempts were made to use so-called Doppler lidar Use methods that are divided into coherent and incoherent lidars. With the aerosol lidar method, however, only suspended particles or aerosols can be detected with a correspondingly low frequency broadening of the Doppler backscatter signal.

In the article "Tracking weathers flight path", in IEEE Spectrum, Sept. 2000, pages 38-45, an aerosol lidar system for the rough display of wind or turbulence zones is described. Such aerosol lidar systems with lasers in the infrared wavelength range of 2 μm or 10 μm have the advantage that measurements on smaller aerosols are possible. Because of their long

However, pulse length and low pulse frequency can only be used for long ranges in the range of 5 - 20 km and for large measurement volumes with edge lengths of 50 - 500 m. Therefore, such systems do not allow control by rudder deflections, but only timely flying around large-scale turbulence zones.

Therefore, attempts have been made to develop aerosol lidar systems with shorter wavelengths and higher pulse frequency, e.g. in "Aerosol and cloud backscatter at 1,064, 1.54, and 0.53 μm by airborne hard target calibrated Nd: YAG / methane Raman lidar", Appl. Opt. Vol 36, pp. 3475 - 3490 (1997). However, there is further Problem that the density of aerosols in many regions of the world and especially in airways at high altitudes above the oceans is too low to carry out reliable measurements to control air turbulence.

For this reason, attempts have been made to use the Doppler-shifted backscatter on air molecules in addition to the aerosol scattering in order to achieve sufficiently high measurement reliability for flight controls at all flight altitudes and in all weather conditions. In the article by D. Rees and IS McDermid, "Doppler lidar atmospheric wind sensor: reevaluation of a 355-nm iήcoherent Doppler lidar", Appl. Opt. Vol. 29, No. 28, pp 4133-4144 (1990) described the measurement of the molecular Doppler shift in Doppler-Lidar systems using Fizeau or Fabry-Perot interferometers with incoherent reception. In the spectral measurement, the received photons are distributed over an interference pattern with an imaging, spatially resolving detector over several reception channels, namely in the Fabry-Perot interferometer on concentric interference rings and in the Fizβau interferometer on interference fringes. However, there is the problem that the detection of weak signals is more difficult compared to the noise of several individual reception channels.

Doppler lidar measurements therefore have the general problem of the low intensity of the backscattering of both molecules and aerosols. In order to keep the laser power, which is necessary for reliable measurements, low, a photodetector that is as sensitive as possible must be used and at the same time the influence of noise from background radiation from the

Atmosphere and can be suppressed efficiently by electronic noise in the detector and amplifier.

In the article by C. Nardell et al., "GroundWinds New Hampshire and the LIDARFest 2000 Campaign", SPI Internat. Symp. On Opt. Science and Technology, San Diego 2001, SPIE 4484-05 describes a Doppler lidar with direct reception and UV lasers, which is suitable for measuring winds from the ground at different heights. The air movement from a ground station with the help of lasers in the UV range with an output power of several watts and receiving telescopes with one

Diameters measured from a few tens of centimeters to a few kilometers in height in the atmosphere. The weak backscatter signals can be integrated over several seconds, since the winds are stable over longer periods. However, such systems and methods are not suitable for measuring air movements from an aircraft, since for this purpose much more compact systems with lasers of lower power and smaller ones Reception optics are necessary. Furthermore, the signal evaluation must take place in just a few tens of milliseconds.

In the article by P.B. Hays and J. Wang "Image plane detector for Fabry-Perot interferometers: physical model and improvement with anticoincidence detection", Appl. Opt. Vol. 30, No. 22, pp 3100-3107 (1991) becomes a method for registering the movement of interference rings of a Fabry-Perot interferometer with a specially designed detector. The geometry of the detector is adapted to the intensity curve in the interference pattern. A photomultiplier with a conventional photocathode but with a special anode structure is used, concentric anode rings of different widths being analog If the concentric, ring-shaped interferogram is imaged on the photocathode of the photomultiplier, the photoelectrons are amplified and reach the concentrically arranged photoanode rings, and a stepped charge imprint of the interference pattern then arises on the anode rings By shifting the charge levels on the anode rings, the position of the interference ring of the Fabry-Perot interferometer can then be approximately determined. However, this method has the disadvantage that only a rough scanning of the interferogram is possible. Measurement errors also occur if the interferogram is not imaged concentrically with the anode rings.

To overcome these disadvantages, J. Wu et al. in "Performance of a circle-to-line optical system for a Fabry-Perot interferometer: a laboratory study", Appl. Opt. Vol. 33 pp. 7823 - 7828 (1994) a receiver, in which a A quarter of the circular interferogram of the Fabry-Perot interferometer is converted into line structures and imaged on a linear detector or a CCD array, but this method has the disadvantage that only a quarter of the interferogram is used and optical distortions occur in the image, which lead to additional measurement errors.

In C.L. Korb et al., "Edge technique Doppler lidar wind measurements with high vertical resolution", Appl. Opt. Vol. 36, 5976-5983 (1997) describes a method for determining the Doppler shift in molecular lidars by edge detection a narrow-band spectral filter such as the Fabry-Perot interferometer, the spectral passband of the filter compared to the Doppler-broadened line of backscattering the laser from the atmosphere is set in such a way that only a part of the spectrum is transmitted on its intensity flank then registered as a change in intensity along the flank with a single-channel detector, which then represent a measure of the Doppler shift of the entire spectrum.

With this method of edge detection in molecular Doppler lidars, just like with the so-called “fringe detection”, there is the disadvantage that only part of the received light is used and furthermore only a small part of the available spectral information in the received light for determining the Doppler shift In addition, there are high costs because special and very expensive photo receivers have to be used.

In Todd D. Irgang et al., "Two-channel direct-detection Doppler lidar employing a charge-coupled device as a detector", Appl. Optics, Vol. 41, No. 6, pp. 1145-1155 (2002) described a Doppler-Lidar system which comprises a CCD detector. By using a conversion device which converts circular interference patterns of a Fabry-Perot etalon into strip-like patterns, this linear device can be used. This should result in winds due to backscattering on aerosols and molecules The circular rings emitted by the Fabry-Perot etalon are converted into a linear series of strips using a reflective cone. However, this system and method also has the disadvantage that optical errors occur due to the converter and a great deal of effort is required.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a method for measuring wind speeds with a Doppler-Lidar system which is suitable for a subsequent flight control for regulating turbulence or shear winds in the field of aviation and which ensures a high level of measurement reliability. Furthermore, a double lidar system is to be specified, with which shear winds and turbulence can be detected with high accuracy, so that regulation of turbulence or shear winds in the aircraft is possible.

This object is achieved by the method for detecting wind speeds according to claim 1 and by the Doppler-Lidar system for detecting wind speeds, in particular on board aircraft according to claim 13. Further advantageous features, aspects and details of the invention result from the dependent Claims, the description and the drawings.

In the method according to the invention for detecting wind speeds with a Doppler lidar system, a laser beam of a predetermined frequency is emitted to a spatial area and the light scattered back from the spatial area is received, an interferogram being generated with an interferometer for determining a Doppler shift and with an The intensity distribution of the interferogram is measured by the photodetector, and the intensity distribution of the interferogram is compared with one or more reference patterns, which were previously determined for defined parameters, and the Doppler shift is determined from the comparison as a measure of the wind speed.

The method according to the invention ensures a sufficiently high level of measurement reliability for flight control at all flight heights and at all Weather conditions, because in addition to backscattering the light on aerosols, the Doppler shifted backscatter on air molecules is determined with high accuracy and used for wind measurement. Since the density of the air molecules only varies by a maximum of a factor of 5 in the typical flight altitudes up to 40,000 feet, the reference patterns and expected measurement signals are very reliable and can be determined stably for every flight altitude in all regions of the world. The invention improves the reception and evaluation method in Doppler measurements so that with a reduced transmission power of the laser, a sufficiently high level of measurement certainty is possible for flight control in a wide variety of atmospheric conditions. Shear winds and gusts can thus be determined with a compact system at measurement distances of, for example, 50-200 m from the aircraft using direct, incoherent reception in order to enable regulation by aircraft control.

The disadvantages of the prior art described above are eliminated by the invention, since the light which is transmitted through the interferometer can be fully used and additionally all the information which is contained in the geometric distribution of the light intensity in the imaging plane of the interferometer, can be used to register the Doppler shift. The method used is particularly designed so that it is as insensitive as possible to signal noise and optical aberrations and interference in the interferometer. Furthermore, the parts used for the selected photo receiver are available conventionally.

In order to enable the backscattering of the laser light in the mixture of molecules and aerosols and additionally also on condensed water droplets in clouds, short-wave laser light, in particular in the UV range, is preferably used. All states of the atmosphere can thus be recorded. It is taken into account that the increase in the intensity of the backscatter signals on air molecules is proportional to λ ^"4 , where λ denotes the wavelength of the laser beam. Laser wavelengths that are as short as possible are therefore used, which are preferably in the UV range Further advantages that a short pulse duration, for example <10 ns, and a high pulse repetition frequency, for example> 100 Hz, can be achieved with commercially available lasers, such as frequency tripled or quadrupled Nd: YAG lasers at 0.355 μm and 0.266 μm can, so that a sufficiently high spatial resolution is achieved. A sufficient atmospheric transmission is up to a lower limit in the UV of about 0.230 μm for

Remote measurements up to a few hundred meters available at all flight altitudes.

In particular, the invention also solves the problem of spectral broadening of laser backscattering on molecules due to collisions and thermal movement of the molecules. This broadening can be greater, for example, by a factor of 10-100 than the smallest Doppler frequency shift in air turbulence that is to be recorded. This broadening of the received signal to a larger spectral range has so far made detection of the Doppler shift in the spectrally uniformly distributed noise so difficult that sufficiently precise measurements were not possible. The invention allows the Doppler shift to be determined precisely despite the spectral broadening.

In particular, in the invention the optical beam path of the lidar is designed such that the entire interference pattern or interferogram is imaged directly, that is to say without reshaping, scaling or locating on a two-dimensional detector array. At the same time, all previous knowledge about the expected local distribution of the optical received signals on the detector surface is used for the signal evaluation to determine the Doppler shift. The invention is based on the knowledge that the shape and broadening of the molecular backscatter spectrum at a narrow-band laser frequency that is single-mode represents a well-defined spectral line, the intensity curve of which depends on the atmospheric density and temperature, ie the measurement height of the aircraft above sea level, is predictable. In particular, with the additional knowledge of the transfer function of the interferometer, which can also be calculated or measured with sufficient accuracy, the expectation profiles of the intensity distribution in the photodetector plane of the interferometer can be determined for each density and air temperature and as historical values in, for example, a two-dimensional look-up By comparing these modeled spectral profiles with the actually measured spectra and the deviations found, the Doppler line shift can be determined in real time for each flight altitude depending on the air speed.

In the method according to the invention, the ring-shaped interferogram of a Fabry-Perot interferometer is advantageously imaged directly on the 2-dimensional photodetector. This results in an image on the flat photo receiver without optical conversion and without

Shadowing. Thus, for example, the scattered, Doppler-shifted laser signal of an aircraft from the atmosphere can be fully used in the Doppler-Lidar system with the Fabry-Perot interferometer, so that there is no loss of information due to the optical conversion.

The reference patterns preferably contain different densities and / or temperatures of the atmosphere as parameters. As a result, reference patterns are available for different atmospheric conditions, for example, at different heights, from which the reference pattern is selected which has the least deviation from the recorded interferogram. The complete theoretically expected can be used for parameter calculation Intensity distribution can be used, which is previously obtained from a model calculation. The model calculation includes the modeling of the laser transmission beam, the modeling of the molecular velocity distribution and the modeling of the interferometer transfer function. From the interferogram recorded with an intensified CCD camera, which is available, for example, in the form of 2-dimensional gray-scale images, a determination of the air speed in the area to be measured as well as a determination of various atmospheric parameters such as can be made by comparison with the family of reference patterns for example, the measurement volume temperature or the pressure of the measurement volume.

The at least one reference pattern thus contains, for example, the speed of the atmosphere relative to the Doppler-Lidar system as a parameter.

The variation in the speed of the atmosphere relative to the Doppler-Lidar system is advantageously determined from several successive measurements. From the fast variations compared to the airspeed caused by turbulence or shear winds, the

Determine the air speed in the area in front of the aircraft.

The laser beam is preferably pulsed and in each case a part of a laser pulse is used to determine a temporal reference point. The distance of the backscattering area of the room can be determined by means of the transit time of the remaining part of the laser pulse.

Part of the laser beam is preferably received and registered directly, ie without backscattering in the atmosphere, it being possible to determine a transfer function of the optical components of the system from the intensity distribution or to carry out a calibration. The density and / or the temperature of the spatial area is preferably determined from the reference pattern with the smallest deviation from the measured interferogram.

The method according to the invention is advantageously carried out on board a moving system, for example on board an aircraft, helicopter or another aircraft, just as it can also be used on board a ship or on the ground.

Furthermore, the expected intensity distribution of the reference pattern can also be calculated from measured atmospheric parameters and / or flight parameters of an aircraft, or the stored reference pattern with the smallest deviation from the registered interferogram can be further adapted using measured parameters.

The laser beam is advantageously sent in different directions in order to determine the wind speed vector, that is to say the amount and direction of the wind speed in the area to be measured.

According to another aspect of the invention, a Doppler lidar system for recording wind speeds, in particular on board aircraft, is provided, with a transmitter device for emitting a laser beam, a receiver device for receiving the laser beam scattered back into the atmosphere, and an interferometer for generating a Interferogram from the backscattered laser beam, a photodetector for determining the intensity distribution of the interferogram, and an evaluation unit for determining the Doppler shift as a measure of the wind speed of the atmosphere, the interferogram being imaged directly on the photodetector, and the evaluation unit having a memory with or more

Includes reference patterns for previously defined atmospheric parameters apply, and a comparison unit for comparing the depicted interferogram with the reference patterns in order to determine the wind speed from the comparison.

With the Doppler-Lidar system according to the invention, it is possible with high

Accuracy to determine the wind speed or turbulence in front of an aircraft so that when flown through the area to be measured can be regulated by appropriate flap control. As a result, the invention contributes to flight safety on the one hand, on the other hand, flight comfort is noticeably improved, and there is also a reduction in fuel costs.

The photodetector is advantageously a 2-dimensional photodetector which comprises an image intensifier and a CCD or CMOS array. This results in low costs, since the photodetector is available commercially and conventionally.

Preferably a ^'transfer path for a part of the laser beam is provided between the transmitting device and the receiving device to the generated laser beam to register directly in the receiving device. For example, a glass fiber cable is provided which couples the laser beam of the transmitting device branched off by means of a beam splitter to a receiving telescope of the receiving device. This makes it possible to register the emitted laser beam directly and thus to determine the transfer function of the receiving device with the components present therein. Furthermore, the receiving device can be calibrated from time to time.

Furthermore, the laser beam guided directly to the receiving device can be used as a time reference in order to define the transit time of the emitted and backscattered laser beam. This allows the measurement distance, ie the distance of the area in which the air speed is determined can be determined.

The interferometer is preferably a Fabry-Perot interferometer. The interferogram is preferably ring-shaped and comprises concentric rings of the intensity distribution.

The laser advantageously generates pulsed laser beams in the UV range. This makes it possible to measure the backscatter on air molecules very precisely and to determine the Doppler shift.

The Doppler lidar system preferably comprises field-programmable gate arrays for calculating the reference pattern. This enables a quick calculation in real time.

The evaluation unit advantageously comprises a module for determining the transfer function of the components of the receiving device.

The Doppler lidar system according to the invention is preferably designed with corresponding components for carrying out the method according to the invention.

Advantages and features that are described in connection with the method according to the invention also apply to the Doppler-Lidar system according to the invention, as well as advantages and features that apply to the Doppler-Lidar system also apply to the method according to the invention.

The invention is described below by way of example with reference to the drawings, in which:

1 shows a schematic representation of a Doppler lidar system according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 shows schematically an image of an interferogram on the photoreceptor of the system shown in Figure 1;

3 shows a typical 2-dimensional interferogram with a relatively low number of photons; and

4 schematically shows a wind speed measurement with the Doppler-Lidar system according to the invention.

1 shows a Doppler lidar system 10 as a preferred embodiment of the invention. A laser 11 is used to generate a pulsed laser beam and is optically coupled to a transmission telescope 12, which is used to transmit a laser beam into the atmosphere in a predetermined direction. The laser 11 and the transmitting telescope 12 thus form a transmitting device for emitting the laser beam. A receiving device in the form of a receiving telescope 13 is used to receive the laser beam scattered back into the atmosphere. The received laser beam is fed via an optical fiber 14 and a filter unit 15 to an interferometer 16, which in this preferred embodiment is a Fabry-Perot interferometer.

A photodetector 17 is used to determine the intensity distribution of an interferogram, which is generated by the interferometer 16 from the laser beam supplied. The photodetector 17 is arranged in relation to the interferometer 16 so that e.g. annular interferogram is imaged directly on the photodetector 17.

The output of the photodetector 17 is electrically coupled to an evaluation unit 18, which comprises a memory 18a and a comparison unit 18b in the form of a microprocessor. One or more reference patterns for interferograms, those for defined ones, are stored in the memory 18a atmospheric and possibly other parameters apply. The comparison unit 17b serves to compare the interferogram imaged on the photoreceiver 17 with the one or more reference patterns and to determine the wind speed from the comparison. Additional parameters can be supplied to the comparison unit 18b as input data 22 in order to adapt, calculate or change the reference pattern.

A beam splitter 19 is connected between the laser 11 and the transmitting telescope 12 and is used to branch off part of the laser beam generated by the laser 11 and to feed it to the receiving telescope 13 via a transfer path 20 in the form of an optical fiber or reference measuring fiber. As a result, a small part of the radiation emitted by the laser 11 reaches the receiving telescope 13 via the transfer path 20 and is used to determine the starting time of the transit time of the laser beam emitted and backscattered in the atmosphere at a defined distance. This defines the distance at which the wind speed is to be measured by specifying the time of reception.

Furthermore, the transfer function of the optical receiving system with its various components, such as e.g. Fiber 14, filter 15 and interferometer 16 can be determined. The directly supplied laser beam is fed to the interferometer 16 and the resulting interferogram is then imaged on the photodetector 17.

The receiving telescope 13 serves to receive the light scattered back from the measurement volume, which is a defined spatial area. Via the fiber 14 in the form of a glass fiber, this light is parallelized by means of an optical lens 21 and passed on to the filter 15. The filter 15 serves to filter out the laser beam scattered back from the atmosphere from the background radiation of the sun. The filter 15 is followed by the interferometer 16, which forms an interferogram from the light supplied. In addition to a Fabry-Perot interferometer, the interferometer 16 can also be a Fizeau interferometer, for example.

In the Fabry-Perot interferometer, the pattern generated by the interferometer consists of concentric circles, the intensity distribution in the pattern and the distance of the circles from the center from the wavelength of the light supplied, from the spectrum of the laser, from the Doppler shift, the double Widening in the atmosphere and the transfer function of the components of the receiving channel depends.

The generated interferogram contains the entire measured information about the atmosphere and is mapped as a whole without optical shaping or fading out or centering onto the detector plane of the two-dimensional photodetector 17 with its 2-dimensional pixel structure.

FIG. 2 shows a typical intensity distribution in an interferogram 34 reproduced by the photoreceptor or the photodetector 17. Because of the discrete pixel structure and the typically weak optical reception signals, a step-like 2-dimensional intensity image is produced which is fed to the comparison unit 18b implemented by a microprocessor.

3 serves to better illustrate the typical 2-dimensional interferogram 34 with a relatively low number of photons. There the intensity distribution of the concentric rings is shown in the form of gray value gradations. In the comparison unit 18b (see FIG. 1), this intensity profile or intensity pattern is compared with reference patterns which are available in the storage unit 18a in the form of look-up tables. During the evaluation, the microprocessor looks for one from the one or more look-up tables Intensity distribution pattern that comes closest to the measured one. The value of the Doppler shift, which is a parameter of the stored pattern, is derived from this comparison, and the speed of the air particles in the measurement volume is derived from this.

The reference patterns or the set of reference patterns can be generated in various ways. For example, different reference patterns can be generated for different atmospheric temperatures and different air velocities relative to the measuring system and stored in the look-up tables. Furthermore, the print and the serve

Instrument function as a parameter for determining the reference pattern. It is also possible to determine one or more of these parameters during the measuring operation by sensors and to adapt the stored reference patterns on the basis of the current values. The current parameters determined by the further sensors can then be in the form of

Input data 22 are fed to the comparison unit 18b (see FIG. 1).

This means that the interference patterns contain the various parameters that influence a measured interferogram, so that the reference patterns apply to different heights, temperatures, speeds of the aircraft and also different instrument functions. The instrument function can either be measured or calculated.

To measure the transfer function of the receiving system, part of the radiation from the laser is directed directly into the receiving telescope 13. The

The transfer function can then be determined in the meantime between the measurement of the backscattered laser light from the atmosphere and taken into account in the further evaluation.

During the evaluation, the intensity distributions of the reference patterns are essentially compared with the intensity distribution of the measured interferogram compared. The spectrum of the light scattered back from the atmosphere contains a collision broadening of the molecules as well as a thermal broadening which is dependent on the respective temperature. The center of gravity of the spectrum is shifted by the Doppler shift. As mentioned above, the instrument function, ie the transfer function of the optical components of the receiver, also has an effect on the spectrum determined. All these factors are taken into account in the reference samples.

The Doppler shift is measured with a certain measuring frequency, which can be freely determined. Between the emission of the transmission pulse until reception of the backscattered laser light from the measurement volume in the atmosphere, there is a time interval in which the transmission pulse, which is fed directly to the reception telescope 13 via the transfer path 20, is measured by the photodetector 17. The intensity distribution in this interferogram is the convolution of the spectrum of the laser used and the transfer function of all components of the receiving system, such as receiving telescope 13, glass fiber or fiber 14, lens 21, filter 15 and interferometer 16. This intensity distribution is used in the measurement to complete the look -Up tables and / or used to monitor the settings of the entire system, especially for calibration.

When measuring the wind speed within a spatial area spaced from the measuring system with the Doppler-Lidar system 0 shown in FIG. 1, the laser 11 is operated with a typical pulse duration of 10 ns, which corresponds to a pulse length of 1.5 m. The receiving device is set so that the backscatter signal is received after a fixed pulse transit time from a fixed distance, for example 100 m. The point in time of the passage of the pulsed laser radiation through the aperture of the transmitting telescope 12 is used as the time reference. This point in time is determined by directing part of the radiation via the transfer path 20 designed as glass fiber

Receiving telescope 13 is supplied, so without the way through the atmosphere. In addition to this point in time or trigger, which is registered by the photodetector 17, the spectral intensity distribution of the directly supplied laser beam can also be recorded and stored in the imaging plane of the interferometer 16 on the photodetector 1. This results in the transfer function F _{0 of} all optical components as:

Fo = f _La 0 fFi0 fFa0 f | F, (1)

where 0 denotes the convolution operator and f | _ _a , fn. _F a and f | _F the

Represent transfer functions of the optical components laser, filter, fiber and interferometer.

Since this function is the inherent instrument function and only rarely, i.e. changed only when the system is misaligned and degraded, does not need to be saved with every pulse of the laser, but can be measured again and again for initial self-calibration and for monitoring the system. If the measuring system is stable enough, there is also the possibility to determine the instrument function purely by calculation and to take it into account in further evaluations. The evaluation of these tests can be used in the calculation to support the data.

The light of the laser pulse scattered back from the measurement volume in the atmosphere at a later point in time is picked up by the receiving telescope 13 and the directly supplied one is carried out in the same way as before

Laser light is fed via the receiving telescope 13, the lens 21, the filter 14, the fiber 15 and the interferometer 16 to the photo receiver or photodetector 17.

The laser light scattered back from the atmosphere is broadened spectrally and due to the Doppler effect from the relative speed of the aircraft Air and the natural movement of the air mass shifted spectrally. After passing through the receiving telescope 13, it is folded with the transfer function of the optics F ₀ and then represents the entire measured function F:

F = F _D 0 F _o (2)

The measured intensity curve is compared with the stored 2-dimensional field of possible intensity curves depending on the atmospheric parameters density and temperature. The intensity curve with the least difference between measurement and calculation is used in a model-based evaluation, or it is improved by an appropriate interpolation or parameter adjustment. The Doppler function F _D can now be obtained from this intensity _curve by computational unfolding. From the width and the course of the Doppler function, the density and temperature of the air at corresponding flight altitudes can now be obtained.

On the other hand, it is also possible to calculate the expected course of the Doppler function from the known values of air density and air temperature, which are measured with other measuring instruments of the aircraft, and to calculate the Doppler shift from the measured shift with the additional knowledge of the instrument function to win the interferograms 34. The Doppler shift and the alignment of the measuring axis from the aircraft can then be used to calculate the speed of the aircraft in relation to the air mass and the internal movement of the air mass.

After direct imaging of the interferogram as a whole and without optical shaping or masking on the area detector, for example a CCD array or CMOS array, light amplification is carried out using a multi-channel plate, which forms an image intensifier 17a and between Imaging plane of the interferometer 16 and the planar photodetector 17 is provided.

Then the interferogram with the parameter calculations and / or stored information about the expected intensity curve for the interferometer used, the air temperature and density with the help of parallel computing microprocessors, e.g. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) compared. The reference values of the interferogram function are stored for different parameter sets, in particular laser wavelength λ, atmospheric density p and air temperature T, in order to reduce the computational effort. As a result, all information available in the system itself, as well as the information about air density, temperature and airspeed in relation to the air mass, can be used in every aircraft.

4 schematically shows a wind speed measurement with the Doppler-Lidar system according to the invention on board an aircraft 50. Different measuring beams 51 are sent in different directions in order to scan the air space in front of the aircraft 50. The laser beams scattered back from different spatial areas 52a, 52b, 52c, 52d on aerosols and molecules are recorded and analyzed as described above, so that the wind speeds in the respective measuring direction are determined in the respective spatial area. The distance D of the spatial areas 52a-d from the aircraft 50 is 100 m, for example. The division of the measuring beam into the plurality of measuring beams 51 can e.g. with a superior scanner, the air space in front of the aircraft 50 being scanned simultaneously or successively in different directions. The spatial areas 52a-d have, for example, an extension in the measuring direction of approximately 10 m.

The wind speed vector can be determined from the individual measurement results by projection in the different directions. The The Doppler speed components measured in the respective laser transmission beam direction are processed into an estimated speed vector, for example, by an over-determined system of equations with at least four individual measurements in four measuring directions, weighting factors for reducing the amount of past measurements being taken into account. The speed calculation of v _n from the

Measurement sequence m- _t , m ₂ , m ₃ , mm _k then the speed calculation v _{n + 1} follows from the measurement sequence m ₂ , m ₃ , m ₄ , m ₅ rrik + i.

The invention enables an accurate measurement of the wind speed vector far in front of an aircraft in real time with the help of the interferometric measurement of the Doppler line shift of pulsed laser beams scattered back on air molecules and aerosols. Because of the arrangement according to the invention and the evaluation method according to the invention, a large range is achieved, i.e. only reduced backscatter intensities are required for the evaluation.

The gust measurement in real time far in front of the aircraft, for example at a distance that corresponds to a flight time of 0.5 seconds, allows targeted control and trimming maneuvers to reduce the harmful effects of gusts on the aircraft. For systems with a shorter range, for example for measuring the

Inlet velocity vector, further reduced installation dimensions are possible.

The measurement can be carried out from moving measurement platforms, for example from airplanes, helicopters, balloons, satellites or ships, or also from floor-mounted measurement stations.

In order to set the measurement distance, a time window is set for the measurement data acquisition, which is synchronized with the laser beam pulsing.

The measurement data can be processed in real time, the reference values or patterns being used in parallel by using field-programmable arrays be calculated. The optimal parameters for the wavelength λ and the temperature T of the measurement volume can be determined from this. To reduce computational effort, the reference patterns, which represent reference values of the interferogram function, can be stored for different parameter sets λ and T. In addition to the memory accesses, only addition and formation of amounts for positive, whole numbers are required for calculating the reference values, as a result of which the area requirements of the local computer units in the field programmable gate array are kept very small.

When the interferogram of the laser radiation backscattered from the atmosphere is compared with the host of reference patterns, the wavelength λ and the measurement volume temperature T are determined during the evaluation. The complete, theoretically expected intensity distribution, which is previously obtained from a model calculation, is used to calculate the parameters. The model calculation includes the modeling of the laser beam, the modeling of the molecular velocity distribution and the modeling of the interferometer transfer function.

In addition to the detection of gusts or air turbulence, the Doppler lidar according to the invention and the method according to the invention for detecting wind speeds can also be used for applications and operations on the ground, for example for the detection of shear winds at airports or for the measurement of wind profiles in the vertical direction through the atmosphere.

Claims

claims

1. A method for detecting wind speeds with a Doppler lidar system (10), in which a laser beam of a predetermined wavelength is emitted to a spatial area (52a, 52b, 52c, 52d) and the light scattered back from the spatial area is received, whereby for determining a Doppler shift, an interferogram (34) is generated with an interferometer (16) and the intensity distribution of the interferogram (34) is measured with a photodetector (17), characterized in that the intensity distribution is compared with a family of reference patterns that were previously were determined for defined atmospheric parameters, which include different densities and / or temperatures of the atmosphere, the Doppler shift being determined as a measure of the wind speed from the comparison with the family of different reference patterns.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the interferogram (34) is annular and directly on the 2-dimensional

Photodetector (17) is imaged.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the interferogram is strip-shaped and is imaged directly on the 2-dimensional photodetector.

4. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the reference pattern with the smallest deviation from the measured interferogram (34) is used to determine the Doppler shift.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the reference pattern contains the speed of the atmosphere relative to the Doppler-Lidar system (10) as a parameter.

Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the variation in the speed of the atmosphere relative to the Doppler-Lidar system (10) is determined from a plurality of successive measurements.

7. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the laser beam is pulsed and in each case part of a laser pulse is used to determine a temporal reference point in order to use the transit time of the remaining part of the laser pulse to remove the distance from the backscattering spatial region (52a,

52b, 52c, 52d).

8. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a part of the laser beam is received and registered directly and without backscattering, from which

Intensity distribution determines a transfer function of optical components and / or a calibration is carried out.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that from the reference pattern with the lowest

Deviation from the measured interferogram (34) density and / or temperature of the spatial area (52a, 52b, 52c, 52d) can be determined.

10. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is preferred on board a moving system on board an aircraft (50).

11. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the expected from measured atmospheric parameters and / or flight parameters of an aircraft (50)

Intensity distribution of the reference pattern is calculated.

12. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the laser beam is sent in different directions by measuring the Doppler shift in this

Directions to determine the wind speed vector.

13. Doppler lidar system (10) for detecting wind speeds, in particular on board aircraft (50), with a transmitting device (12) for emitting a laser beam, a receiving device (13) for receiving the laser beam scattered back into the atmosphere, one Interferometer (16) for generating an interferogram (34) from the backscattered laser beam, a photodetector (17) for determining the intensity distribution of the

Interferogram (34), the interferogram (34) being imaged directly on the photodetector (17), and an evaluation unit (18a, 18b) for determining the Doppler shift as a measure of the wind speed of the atmosphere, characterized in that the evaluation unit (18a, 18b) comprises a memory (18a) with a family of reference patterns which apply to previously defined atmospheric parameters, which comprise different densities and / or temperatures of the atmosphere, and a comparison unit (18b) is provided which is based on a comparison of the interferogram (34) shown, the wind speed is determined with the family of reference patterns.

14. Doppler lidar system according to claim 13, characterized in that the photodetector (17) is a 2-dimensional photodetector which comprises an image intensifier (17a) and a CCD or CMOS array.

15. Doppler lidar system according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that between the transmitting device (12) and the receiving device (13) a transfer path (20) for part of the

Laser beam is provided to register the laser beam generated directly in the receiving device (13).

16. Doppler-lidar system according to one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that the interferometer (34) is a Fabry-Perot interferometer that generates ring-shaped interference patterns.

17. Doppler lidar system according to one of claims 13 to 16, characterized in that the interferometer (34) is a Fizeau interferometer which generates stripe-shaped interference patterns.

18. Doppler lidar system according to one of claims 13 to 17, characterized by a laser (11) which generates pulsed laser beams in the UV range.

19. Doppler lidar system according to one of claims 13 to 18, characterized by field-programmable gate arrays for calculating the reference pattern.

20. Doppler lidar system according to one of claims 13 to 19, characterized in that the evaluation unit (18a, 18b) is a module for Determination of the transfer function of components on the receiving side of the Doppler lidar system (10) includes.